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Incoming German chancellor Merz vows reforms and investments as parties sign coalition agreement

Leaders of Germany's CDU, CSU, and SPD signed a 144-page coalition agreement in Berlin on May 5, 2025, to form a new government.
This agreement followed early federal elections prompted by the November 2024 collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition over budget disputes.
The contract, titled "Responsibility for Germany," outlines reforms including tightened immigration, military changes, increased infrastructure investment, and fiscal policy shifts.
The coalition holds a narrow majority with 328 parliamentary seats, and Friedrich Merz will likely be sworn in as chancellor on May 6, 2025, pledging "strong, well-planned and dependable governance."
This new government ends months of political paralysis but faces challenges from a surging far-right AfD opposition and aims to rebuild Germany’s standing internationally.

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Berlin Briefing

Weekly podcast about Politics and Germany from DW

Center

Weekly podcast about Politics and Germany from DW

Merz’s Tough Victory & AfD’s Extremist Status in Germany | Berlin Briefing Podcast

Berlin Briefing discusses Friedrich Merz’s hard-fought victory alongside the controversial extremist classification of the AfD in Germany.

10 days ago·Bonn, Germany

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Jacobin

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Germany’s Feeble Grand Coalition

Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz has been confirmed as Germany’s new chancellor. His grand coalition is off to a rocky start — and its call on Germans to swallow austerity is sure to make things worse. Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), attends the coalition-contract signing between the CDU, the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the German Social Democrats (SPD) on May 5, 2025, in B…

8 days ago

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Zeit Online

Lean Left

Friedrich Merz fails in the first ballot to become Chancellor

Read now "Friedrich Merz fails in the first ballot to become Chancellor.

11 days ago·Germany

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Bild

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Election of chancellor in the Bundestag: This is how the day of Merz-Krönung runs

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11 days ago·Berlin, Germany

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Spiegel

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Analysis: Session in the Bundestag has begun – Chancellor's election is ongoing

President of the Bundestag Julia Klöckner has opened the meeting, the election of the new chancellor has begun. Is Friedrich Merz in the first ballot? The meeting in the live analysis and in the video.

11 days ago·Germany

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The Local - De

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Germany's Merz to launch new government in times of turbulence

Germany's conservative leader Friedrich Merz is set to be sworn in as chancellor on Tuesday with a mission to revive the ailing economy and boost the diplomatic standing of the EU's most populous country.

11 days ago·Germany

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